23 diplomats will leave London today to return to Moscow. The diplomats with their families will take a special flight.
Our correspondent Anastasia Efimova has the details. She's joined us.
- Greetings, Nastya. At what time does the diplomats' plane take off, and where are they now?
- Hello. Right now a procession of Russian diplomats and their families, which makes about 80 people, is heading for the airport to take the special flight to Moscow. The leave-taking ceremony which took place today near the Russian embassy was very touching, as the diplomats are leaving with their families, children, pets: dogs, cats, even a rabbit are going to Moscow. Many were crying, embracing and kissing each other, saying that the world is not limited to Britain. So, the mood is quite poetic.
I'll remind you that British diplomats will have to leave Moscow for London shortly, they are being expelled by Moscow as part of a retaliatory measure, which disgruntled London a lot. New sanctions have been promised which are to be considered today at the National Security Council meeting which Theresa May is supposed to address personally. So far, the media has been publishing various speculations on the Sergei Skripal case. For example, the Daily Mail has covered the progress of the investigation. It will take not a day, but weeks, if not months. Scotland Yard has stated it has never faced anything like this, allegedly, 400 witnesses have been questioned, 800 pieces of evidence have been collected, which didn't help to find out the truth, police confirm.
So, the media is now reduced to speculations, some of which are incredible. British journalists supposed that the nerve agent had dispersed via the car's ventilation, that it was Yulia Skripal who had taken the substance in her luggage. They even suppose that it could have been artificial flowers Yulia and her father laid on her mother's grave the day after she arrived in London from Moscow. As in, those flowers were poisoned, which sounds absurd, but still, this theory is being considered. According to another theory, it's something personal. The Daily Mail writes that Yulia Skripal allegedly had a romantic relationship in Russia with a man who was a secret agent, as well as his mother and Yulia's potential mother-in-law, and she could have used that nerve agent. It sounds absolutely absurd, but they take it seriously. But the British people don't seem to believe it.
The Independent features the readers' letters review weekly, this week it was fully dedicated to the letters concerning the Sergei Skripal story. Most of the published letters were skeptical. One of them starts with the phrase "The British authorities look childish in the Skripal story." Well, we can't but agree with it, unfortunately.
- Thank you, Nastya. Unfortunately, the connection is not that good. But the story is quite clear. My colleague Anastasia Efimova has been reporting from London.
